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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745492">the fall of us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Xavierr/pseuds/C_Xavierr'>C_Xavierr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Injury Recovery, Light Angst, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:55:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745492</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Xavierr/pseuds/C_Xavierr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>3 years after the accident that almost cost Stiles his life it’s finally time for him to leave Beacon Hills. NYU is waiting for him, a whole new life and a fresh new start. With Stiles still recovering from his accident he has to learn how to do things on his own, but how can he recover when the most painful reminder of his accident is always on the verge of his mind?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the fall of us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s been 3 years since Stiles’ accident, 3 years of partial paralysis and 3 years of hell he was ready to forget about. He was leaving Beacon Hills and hoped to never return, of course he would come back for his dad but anyone else that wasn’t him would have to come to him. He exited Scott’s car, opening up the trunk, he had already said goodbye to everyone else and now it was time to say goodbye to him. “You got everything?” Scott asks, grabbing one of his suitcases for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well if I don’t you can always mail it to me.” Stiles says closing the trunk. All the goodbyes he had said were all sad ones, ones that made him cry and ones that made him feel horrible about leaving but everyone knew if he were to stay he would feel more than just horrible. “This is goodbye I guess.” He says with a sad smile, holding tight to his suitcase.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is not goodbye,” Scott says, handing him his other suitcase. “It’s more of a see you soon.” Stiles couldn’t help but laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dude that was so gross and cheesy!” He yells pulling his best friend in for a hug. They stood in silence, appreciating their last moments together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t know what else to say.” He murmurs into Stiles’ shoulder. “I’m gonna miss you.” He tightens his grip around Stiles, his best friend was gonna be across the country in a few hours, restarting his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna miss you too.” He says, pulling apart, Scott was starting to tear up and Stiles couldn’t help but look away. “Come on man, I thought we agreed on no crying!” Scott laughs while he wipes his tears away. “I love you.” Stiles says turning back around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you too man,” Scott says with a smile so wide. “Have fun in New York, make sure to take lots of pictures and eat a whole bunch of foods.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Make sure my dad eats well, if I get a word from anyone that he’s been eating curly fries I’ll attack you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll try my best,” He says entering his car. “See ya in January.” He waves, saying goodbye to Stiles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See ya.” Stiles says quietly, waving back at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He enters the airport and gets his luggage all checked out, he stands in line of TSA and dreads the long LAX lines. Everything went smooth, he grabbed his carryon, held tight to his ticket and made his way to his gate with 30 minutes left to spare. He grabbed a small iced coffee and checked his texts before turning off his phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <strong>Scott: [Picture] Look at him leave :( </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Scott: I’m so sad and happy at the same time.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Alison: Are you at your gate yet?</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Lydia: Scott, you’ve been acting like a sad puppy all this week</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Scott: He’s my best friend moving across the country, I’m allowed to be a sad puppy.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: [Picture]</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: At the gate now, just downed all my coffee.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Lydia: Are you sure you wanna drink that espresso over ice?</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: Chill, the caffeine won’t keep me up, didn’t sleep last night.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Alison: Remember to take pictures!</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: I will.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: My flight is boarding soon, I’ll text you guys when I arrive.</strong>
</p><p>
  <span>Stiles stands in line to board his flight, turning off his phone, he hands the person his ticket and boards the plane, he is finally leaving Beacon Hills. He takes a seat next to the window putting his bag underneath his chair, as more people start to board the flight Stiles starts to get himself comfortable for the 9 hour flight. He grabs his neck pillow and pulls a book out of his bag. He doesn’t pay attention to the announcements the flight attendant makes and gets a start on his class assignments, they were reading Frankenstien by Mary Shelley, thank god he transferred right before the quarter started. As he reached page 10 he could feel his eyes become heavy, he wanted to do a little bit of work before falling asleep, he should’ve added another shot of espresso in his drink. He puts the book on his lap, leaning his head towards the window, falling asleep slowly to the sound of passengers around him and the quiet humming of the plane.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Stiles!” Someone yells, he couldn’t move or respond back, all he felt was pain coursing through his body, the most pain coming from his back and head. He wondered what had happened, the last thing he remembered was trying to find Scott and Derek in the woods, the next thing he knew he was on the ground, unable to move. Stiles stayed still listening to the voices call out his name, he couldn’t tell who was calling him anymore, all their voices clashed together sounding like someone he didn’t know. How long has he been out here? He was cold and just wanted to go home. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Stiles!” Scott yells from the top of his lungs, he was tired and out of breath. “Did you guys find anything?” He asks looking over at Alison and Lydia, they both shook their head no and Scott couldn’t help but feel worried. Stiles walks over towards Derek and Isaac, he was too worn out to go on but he knew that he was here in the woods and he wouldn’t leave without him. “Derek did you find anything?” He asks holding on to Isaac, he felt like he was gonna collapse at any second.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I found pieces of his shirt ripped apart a couple miles back, we’ve been following his scent, so far nothing.” Derek says frustratedly. “I knew we shouldn’t have taken him along, he should’ve stayed home.” He says looking at Scott.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t look at me to blame, I told him the same thing, you and I both know Stiles doesn’t listen to anyone but himself.” Scott spits out, almost falling onto Isaac. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey guys,” Isaac says, taking a big whiff before snapping his head over Scott’s. “I smell blood,” he says in a worried tone. “And a lot of it.” Before Scott could say anything to Derek he went running. Scott tried his best to run but ultimately fell back into Isaac’s arms, he was completely worn out now, Isaac put Scott’s arm over his shoulder and tried to walk as fast as he could to where the blood was coming from.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As Derek ran faster towards the direction of where the blood was coming from, he could finally smell the blood in the air, Isaac was right there was a lot of it. The closer he got the stronger the smell of blood was, he could practically taste it in the air. “Stiles?” He asks standing still, the smell was so overwhelming that he felt dizzy. “Stiles?” He asks again, trying to listen for any slight movement, his senses were all over the place.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Help.” A voice breathed out making Derek drop to the ground.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Stiles!” Derek yells running towards him. Stiles was laying on the ground with a rock next to his head, he was bleeding everywhere, his head, his back, he was so pale. Derek pulled him into his arms, getting a better look at his injuries. “You’re gonna be okay.” Derek says out loud, the gash to his head was deep, he placed his hand over his head to stop some of the bleeding.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Did you find him?” Isaac yells.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes, he’s in bad shape, I need some help!” He yells waiting for Scott and Isaac to show up. He looked for other injuries to see that his jeans were ripped apart, whatever he was running from destroyed a lot of his clothing, he looked down at his knee to see that it was out of place and that his ankle that was sprained.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Derek.” He says with a smile.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t worry Stiles I’m right here,” he says trying to take some of his pain away. “Keep those eyes open for me okay, Scott and Isaac are almost here.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Derek,” he says again, bringing his hand up to his. “Whatever you do, don’t give me the bite.” He breathes out making Derek go still. The conversation about turning Stiles into a wolf was a big one between the pack, Derek and Scott weren’t for it but Stiles kept on insisting about it. “I’m already dying.” He says making Derek furrow his brows.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You aren’t dying, I won’t let you.” He says picking up Stiles’ lifeless body, he stayed still in his arms, taking in how warm he was.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Stiles!” Scott and Isaac both yell, there was no time to talk, Derek wasn’t sure how much longer Stiles could be out here.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Take him to the hospital.” Derek says handing him to Isaac, taking Scott into his, out of the 3 of them Isaac was in the best shape. “He’s bleeding a lot from his head, make sure to keep pressure there.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What about you guys?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t worry about us just worry about him, Scott and I will be there as fast as we can.” He says watching Isaac run off to the car.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stiles woke up halfway through the flight from a bump of turbulence and his head getting smashed into the side of the plane. He raises his hand rubbing his head, feeling the long scar on his scalp, he puts Frankenstein to the side grabbing his journal out of his bag. Everyday for the past 3 years he wrote stuff down in his journal, it was his way of expressing himself, the only way he could express himself without anyone finding out and worrying about him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had a dream about that night, it’s been a while since that day and a while since I’ve had a dream about it. I remember Derek finding me and Isaac taking me to the hospital. Sometimes I wished I had listened to them, for once in my life I wished I had listened to Scott and Derek. I should’ve stayed at home that night, let the others find Scott and Derek, instead they were looking for me. I should’ve known better. What was a skinny defenseless human gonna do to whoever kidnapped them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I hit my head on the plane. Even though my head is all healed up it felt like I was getting bashed with a rock all over again, I can almost remember the pain I felt from when that happened. Hurt like a fucking bitch. I’m halfway through my flight to New York, doctors and therapists had cleared me months ago for me to be able to travel, if I wasn’t such a scaredy cat I would’ve started the first semester at NYU on time but starting halfway through the semester was okay. I miss my dad already, he’s all alone in our house, I hope he doesn’t worry about me, I hope things for him start to go normal. Saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing to do. I knew he didn’t want me to leave, he wanted me to stay so that he could take care of me but it should be the other way around now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stiles closes his journal shoving it back in his bag before falling asleep again. This time he had no dream, he was asleep looking at a black thing of nothing, this was Stiles’ favorite type of sleep. He was woken up by the person next to him, he was finally in New York. He sits back in his chair waiting for himself to wake up some more, there was no need for him to leave the plane immediately, this was his last stop. As the plane empties out, he grabs his bag and gets off the plane, he walks over to get his luggage and heads outside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stiles!” Someone yells making his head snap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Thomas.” He says opening his arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How was your flight?” He asks taking one of his suitcases.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Slept for most of it, how are you doing, heard you got a new job.” He says watching Thomas take one of his suitcases.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m still working part-time at that shitty coffee place but I start next week at the new place.” He says opening the trunk of the cab.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thomas and Stiles met at one of his therapy sessions, his mom was his therapist and Stiles had met him during a very heated argument between mother and son as he was waiting outside her office. After that they met again at a support group, turns out Thomas had his fair shares of injuries that he was willing to share which made the two of them become close.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stiles reaches for his phone, turning it on to see a whole bunch of messages from people, more messages from his dad, the group and Melissa. He holds his phone out taking a picture of him and a very distracted Thomas sending it to the group chat.</span>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: [Picture]</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: Safe and sound.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Alison: It’s Thomas!</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Alison: How is he, haven’t seen him in forever</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Scott: Where are you headed to next?</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: Thomas is good</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles: I think we’re headed to my apartment, I’m worn out</strong>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where to?” Thomas asks, finally entering the cab.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The apartment, I'm tired and haven’t finished the rest of the book I need to read for class.” He watches Thomas tell the driver the address to his apartment and they start driving. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here are your keys.” Thomas says, handing him his keys out of his pocket as they arrive at his apartment. “The walk to NYU to your apartment is about a 10-15 minute walk. I’ve furnished the place to the best of my interior designing and got all of your favorite foods. Your dad told me that you’ve paid 3 months of rent so you only have bills to worry about and your landlord is also kind of a dick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is the apartment complex quiet at least?” He asks, since he was getting ready for the big move to Manhattan, Thomas took care of everything for him while on the phone with his dad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quiet enough.” Stiles leans back staring outside the window, it was busy so they were stuck in traffic. He listened to Thomas babble on about his life, a thing he does when he’s excited about something. He talked about how excited he was about his new job, talked about how excited he was to finally have a friend from home at NYU with him, how his physical therapy was going. “By the way,” Thomas says, getting out of the cab as they pull up to his apartment. “Your landlord is a very grumpy man, he lives on the same floor as you so if you have a complaint that doesn’t concern the well being of the apartment itself don’t bother talking to him, he’ll just ignore you.” They both drag Stiles’ stuff up the stairs, Stiles unlocked the door to his new home and was immediately amazed by Thomas’ “best interior designing skills.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dude this place is amazing!” He says jumping onto the couch, admiring his well decorated 1 bedroom apartment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had help from Lydia of course, she wanted to make sure that everything was perfect for you when you arrived. By the way your bed is amazing, it’ll be great for you back.” He says, taking a seat next to him. “So my apartment is down the street if you need anything, the coffee shop I work at is around the corner and group therapy is on Thursdays.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not doing group therapies anymore,” Stiles says sitting up. “I’m just gonna see that new doctor your mom told me about, settle in slowly before meeting new people.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you do just remember to call if you change your mind.” Thomas says with a smile before getting off the couch. “I’m gonna go, let you unpack and settle down, call me if you need anything and remember what I said about the landlord.” He says leaving the apartment leaving Stiles all alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stiles couldn’t remember the last time he had been alone like, alone in his new home. After his accident his dad completely changed his work schedule, worked during the day so that he could take care of him at night. During the day he was surrounded by his friends or one of the many caretakers during the first year of his recovery. Stiles grabbed his bag taking out one of his many medications, different pain meds for his back and head, sleeping pills for hard nights and anxiety medication to help him adjust to this new setting. He placed all his medication on the coffee table and fell right to sleep.</span>
</p><p>
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